2015 Spring Clean EATing: Check in…and what now?

We just finished up the spring clean eating challenge. I’m sure it was an interesting experience for many of you, especially if it was the first time for you to do something like this!

I hope that you all learned a few things about yourself as you went through this week. One of my favorite sayings from John Maxwell sums it up…

And GUESS WHAT? I can’t believe this but thanks to some promo from my friend, Candace Cameron Bure, I got a tweet from Danielle Walker from Against All Grain saying that she would love to giveaway 4 of her cookbooks! (I may have freaked out a bit. ha!)

So for everyone who fills out this form–WHETHER YOU COMPLETED THE CHALLENGE TO YOUR BEST CAPABILITY OR NOT–will go into a drawing to randomly win 1 of 4 signed copies! Again, even if you didn’t “finish” but had good intentions to do the challenge, go ahead and fill out the survey! The deadline for this giveaway ends on Sunday, May 17th! I’ll announce the winner on Monday the 18th!

Let’s evaluate, shall we?

(If you don’t want to take the time to fill this form, would you write a few notes in the comments section below? Click here if you are having problems getting to the survey)

Loading…

Many of you may wonder how you could keep eating like that long-term as it was hard enough for 7 days. The answer is that you may not! This was a clean up—and is not meant to be like this every day for the rest of your life! (Of course, that depends on how strict you were during the challenge!)

You are now faced with a decision…what now?

– Continue on with the challenge as-is

– Continue on similar to the challenge, with some modifications

– Go back to your old ways

I personally, will make some modifications to the challenge week but will continue on pretty much as I did last week! As I mentioned before, this diet is not too far off from my normal eating. I eat clean a majority of the time and “let loose” on planned occasions. I feel that the challenge has given me back control on some areas that got a little out of hand but am not quite ready yet to introduce some things. (Remember my post about moderation?! I have to take this into consideration!) I didn’t notice how good I felt until the last 2 days of the challenge! It was amazing to get back on track, and honestly, I enjoyed knowing that I had the willpower to say no when my body was saying YES!

If you are wondering whether or not you should insert “______” into your diet, I want you to ask yourself this basic question…

“Do I have control over it, or does it still have control over me?”

If you are not able to control when and how much of whatever it is, then it is probably not a good idea for you to re-introduce it. Give yourself some more time as you break yourself from whatever it is and work on that resistance muscle. As you get stronger, you can introduce it, but introducing it too early while weak will only bring defeat.

Many of you have written to me saying how much BETTER you feel. I want you to note that this challenge had nothing to do with exercise and I kept it out this time because I wanted you to see what better, quality food choices made in your life! I also didn’t want you to be zeroed in on counting calories because I truly believe that if we are feeding ourselves with real, clean food, then the calories fall into place! (Water consumption helps here, too!)

♥♥♥

I would love to hear from those of you who did this challenge! Would you mind commenting below with your thoughts and maybe even answering the questions above? Is this a challenge that you would want to have on the blog again? Will you continue the challenge through this week?

Share this:

About Clare

Comments

Thanks for reminding me that if I don’t have control over something to not introduce it back into my diet! Too many times I do this, and don’t realize that I’m not strong enough to say no yet. Love ya!

I do like this way of eating. It makes me more aware of what I am eating and that’s a good thing. Mindless eating gets me in trouble. I like structure in my everyday life. From devotions to exercise and eating. And I really like to be challenged. So yes please challenge us Clare!!

I usually keep a fairly “clean” menu, but have been known to cave in to pizza, Chinese take-out, or other convenience foods when our schedule is hectic. (Four of our six kiddos are still at home, I work full-time, Hubs is a firefighter, kids in sports …crazy is our normal!) This Spring Clean EATing challenge was just the thing to snap me into serious shape on all levels: mind, body and spirit. I felt like a short period of being strict with myself made a huge difference, and I liked how it felt. Making conscious decisions to maintain my health, is one of the most fulfilling things I can do, especially when I choose to feed both my body and soul. That is a winning combination for sure! 🙂 Thanks, Clare!

Hi, Clare-
I finally found you again, after your inspiring posts quit showing up in my Facebook newsfeed! 🙁
Your clean-eating challenge is timely, as my friends and I were just discussing nutrition and how it relates to our fitness goals. I plan to share your challenge with my group of 10, and see who is up for it! We already have one element you mention- partners! We have a Facebook group and post our daily workouts, struggles, goals and encouragement! We’ve been going strong since February, and it’s amazing to see the positive changes happening in everyone’s lives!
Thank you for YOUR inspiration!!

Last week was not a good week for me to attempt something like this, so I chose to wait until this week. I have always had issues with drinking enough water, which I blame on growing up in West Texas (before bottled water) with water that needed something added to it to make it drinkable. Starting Monday of this week, I set a goal of drinking a gallon of water every day & staying away from processed foods, only eating fresh that was purchased from the outside aisles of the grocery store. By Tuesday, I was actually feeling a little sick. I think that had to do with all the toxins that were leaving my body! Today I feel so much better, not just physically but emotionally also! I still have a few days to go, and even though I may back off on the amount of water (only drink it when I’m actually thirsty), I plan to continue the changes I’ve made this week.